In the above-mentioned melting step, unmolded powder remains near a molded object, and powdery cut chips generated by the cutting remain near a molded object in the above-mentioned cutting process step.
In the case of continuing the cutting process in a state in which the unmolded powder and cut powder remain, not only the life of the cutting tool is extremely shortened but also damage occurs on the cutting tool because of the unmolded powder and cut powder remaining at a cutting edge of the cutting tool.
Additionally, in the case where cutting process is executed being tangled with the unmolded powder and cut powder, a cut surface may be affected and a smooth surface may not be obtained. As a result, even quality of the processed surface is deteriorated.
To handle such a situation, Patent Document 1, JP 2010-280173 A discloses a method in which a tool for removing unmolded powder and cut powder is actuated besides a tool for cutting process, thereby removing the unmolded powder and cut powder.
However, according to this method, the extra tool for removing the unmolded powder and cut powder is required to be installed, and it is unavoidable to cause not only complication of an equipment structure and driving control but also complication of the processing step.
Patent Document 2, JP 11-277361 A discloses a configuration in which unmolded powder and cut powder (cut chips) are sucked by air flow, and the unmolded powder and cut powder are moved through a pipe 1763 and transferred to a suction device 1764 side.
However, in the case of the above-mentioned configuration, the air flow is merely adopted as a post-processing for the unmolded powder remaining at the time of the melting and the cut powder generated by the cutting, and configuration for scattering the unmolded powder and cut powder remaining at the cutting edge of the cutting tool is not disclosed.
Actually, Patent Document 2 does not discuss anything about adverse effect caused by the unmolded powder and cut powder remaining at the cutting edge of the cutting tool.
As is obvious from the known arts disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 the configuration for scattering the unmolded powder remaining at the time of the melting and the cut powder generated by the cutting from a cutting edge of the cutting tool has not been proposed so far.